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The member
for Charnwood, Stephen Dorrell, says the proposal is so sensitive
it should go to the highest authority.
The
Canadian company T.I.E
Limited has already been granted a Government licence to carry
out experimental drilling for oil on land between Quorn and
Woodhouse near Loughborough. However,
the decision has incensed villagers who say it will destroy
countryside which should be protected from development of
any kind.
They have
made repeated calls for the proposal to be dropped. Now
their MP, Stephen Dorrell has joined in their campaign, demanding
the application be called in by the Secretary of State for
Transport, Local Government and the Regions for a full public
inquiry.
He
claims that so far little evidence has been produced to show
there is enough oil to make drilling worthwhile and to justify
disrupting the environment and upsetting villagers.
"The
geological case against any serious likelihood of oil being
found on this site is very strong. The problem with the licensing
system the DTI operates is when only one company applies on
the site they don't spend a lot of time looking at the geological
case that the company makes.
"What we have got here is a company that has been granted
a licence without anyone having made any serious examination
of the geological case on which the application is based.
"If a group of residents are to be subjected to the kind
of environmental upset that is involved in this project then
it seems to me that the geological background to the application
should be the subject of serious independent examination,"
added Mr Dorrell.
In
a statement T.I.E. Limited says it is confident its proposals
would withstand scrutiny at a public inquiry.
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